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Developers of the downtown Sibley building announced Tuesday that they have closed on $71 million in financing to begin renovations that will add 96 apartments as well as office space and street-level retail.

This phase of the project also includes rehabilitation of the building facade and windows, according to a statement from WinnDevelopment and GDD Properties. The modern, market-rate apartments will be on the ninth through 12th floors of the tower, where the office and retail will locate in the mid-rise.

“We are excited to take another big step forward in re-inventing the region’s most important building as a modern hub for housing, retail and innovation,” WinnCompanies CEO Gilbert Winn said in the statement.

This is one phase of a larger project also to include senior and affordable apartments and the build out and sale of space to High Tech Rochester. Financing for the senior component has not yet been finalized but officials expect that to close in the next few months. Construction has started for HTR. There also are plans for aspects of the federally-backed photonics initiative to locate in Sibley, but officials with that project are focused for now on getting the headquarters established at the downtown Legacy Tower and initial space made ready at Canal Ponds Office Park in Greece.